Chapter 18 Another public holiday

If you suddenly forget where you are, the student's excuse for being absent is often the most accurate indicator. "Teacher, I will take my pigs to Texas to participate in the pig breeding competition next week, so I can't come to class." "Tom's off to a buffalo race, and he won't be back today." "Teacher, I will help my family drive the harvester the day after tomorrow; the harvest season is here. Can the report be postponed for a few days?" Yes, this is Kansas, America's Golden Barn.Surrounding the school are endless wheat fields and grasslands where cows and horses roam. There are farm children who are very close to the soil and grass in the school.

John, with shiny black skin and tight jeans, said to me: "Professor, please forgive me for not coming yesterday; I was beaten by two people on the bus for no reason yesterday, and I passed out. Hospital……" I know, I'm in New York City. Blonde Julie said: "I could have missed the class. But while I was waiting for the train at 125th Street, someone put a knife to my waist and took my purse - can I make up the exam?" " Then Heidi, who immigrated from Venezuela, hung her head and said, "I can't come to class tomorrow. Tomorrow is my brother's funeral; my brother was jogging in Central Park last week, and his throat was cut with a razor..."

I listened carefully, nodded, but didn't know whether to open my eyes wide in shock and sympathy, or to remain calm—this Heidi, didn't she just say last month that her toothless grandmother had been shot?Last semester, didn't she say that her sister who was a nun was raped?How many people are there in their family?How many times can she miss class? When the black-haired student said: "Lin Xiumei is not here, it's a public holiday!", I thought: Ah, I'm back in Taiwan! The word "public holiday" has neither the rustic flavor of cattle, sheep, pigs, nor horses, nor the sensational stimulation of killing, rape and looting; it is just a small note that lacks creativity and imagination, with seven or eight chapters stamped on it. But the meaning of the note is very clear: I have something more important and higher priority than your class for this student to do!

What could be more important than a professor's lecture discussion? Tomorrow night at the school celebration party, the General Affairs Office asked me to decorate the venue. The South African Boxers Association visited, and the county government asked us to entertain for seven days. The Youth League holds an ABC seminar, and I'm going to train. The representative of the University of Tolu from the Republic of Tolu is visiting, and we have to be interpreters. A member of parliament came to give a speech, and the department asked us to suspend class to listen. There are too few people and it is not good for face...

This kind of "public holiday" keeps coming in an endless stream throughout the semester. Fortunately, each time, the class missed by each person will generally not exceed a few hours.As far as students are concerned, borrowing notes from classmates and discussing with professors after class can make up for it.For the professor, the continuous public holidays are a big trouble: I have already given the whole class an exam, but because this student "arranged the venue", I have to work hard to create a different one. Exam questions need to be arranged for extra time for him to make up the exam; in other words, the General Affairs Office has to "arrange the venue", which indirectly takes up the professor's private research time.

This is still a trivial matter, right?But one day, a strange face suddenly appeared: "Teacher, I have been absent from school for two months because the government sent me on a friendly visit, and I just came back—" I couldn't help but be surprised: a semester is less than four months in total, and more than half of the classes are missing, what else can he learn?This "public holiday" is a bit too magical. Therefore, the professor is faced with a big problem, should he set aside time to read books, drink tea, and listen to music at night to make up lessons for this student?It's not fair to the professor.So, since this is a "public holiday", can the teacher lower the requirements of the student and put a little water so that he can pass the exam at the end of the semester?It's not fair to other students who have worked hard all semester.Ok!To be fair, no matter how much class is missed, the student must make up all the homework and pass all the exams, big and small, without any discount on the grading standards. I can roughly confirm that this student must retake, Because most of the things taught in the classroom cannot be covered in black and white in one or two textbooks, if he does not hear it, he cannot learn it.However, is this fair to students?He was originally honored to go abroad for a "friendly visit" because of his special skills, but the price of honor was the punishment of rebuilding.

What is the plan of the institution that takes up the regular class time and sends students out?Do you want to teach "sacrificing the ego" to make up lessons?Want the professor to "put water" on the score?Or is it decided that the student should retake the course? "Which organization arranged it?" I asked curiously, thinking that it was probably a department that didn't know much about teaching—— "Ministry of Education!" said the student. ※ ※ ※ In the United States, the "official holidays" that are often "overwhelming" with teaching are usually not political obligations, but star football games that fascinate Americans.Every semester, a football coach will call: "Jimmy in your class will miss a week of class, because the team will go to Philadelphia to play." At the end of the tense term, the nervous basketball coach will also come to inquire: "Will Morrison be absent?" Can't pass? Did he miss too many classes? He has to pass English, but he can't be on the school team. Without him, the school team is over..."

Once, a coach wrote an official letter to the head of the English department, requesting that the department approve a football star named Ike to take a one-hour English class a week for "official leave".There are very good reasons: first; Ike is the soul of the school team; second, the school team is the soul of the school, and every game wins glory and makes money for the school.Third, practice is very time-consuming and has to take up regular class time. The dean of the English Department also replied with an official letter, the content of which is roughly as follows: Coach Smith:

Thank you for your letter. It should be no problem for you to ask Ike to practice golf on business leave, but the department also has a relative request.William, a top student in our department, has academic and creative talents. The department intends to recommend him as the winner of the Rhodes Writing Scholarship, but the scholarship also requires sports performance. Unfortunately, Mr. William is incomplete and suffers from recurrent heart disease, which often occurs. In order for William to receive this honor, the department would like to invite you to use William as the center of the school team, but due to the heavy workload of the English Department, it is time-consuming.He will not be able to participate in all your court practice, please allow him to take a "office leave" once a week so that he can concentrate on writing.

William is the soul of the department. If he cooperates, it will be no problem for Ike players to ask for "office leave". Professor Adam Our middle school and high school students are often transferred to do "shows": parades, typesetting, standing at attention in the sun to listen to lectures, dancing general dances, doing general exercises and so on.College students seldom do this kind of large-scale "show", but they continue to do individual performances: hospitality, translation, training, tour guide, national diplomacy, and justifiably cancel the regular class.And the so-called "office leave" is not a letter asking the professor if the student can miss that class, but a notice telling the teacher: I want this student, and he is not free to attend your class.

I think it's time for someone to write a letter like this: So-and-so length: There were ten students in my class who were absent from the exam this morning. Your signature was on the "public holiday" note. It turns out that the school will award an honorary degree to Bishop Tutu tomorrow. You need students to prepare for the venue and rehearse the ceremony. Although for these ten students I probably have to explain the homework again after class, create another test question, and find a make-up test time suitable for ten people, I feel it is worth it, because the award to Bishop Tutu is of course more important than teaching. Here I also have a small request.My drama class is rehearsing a show in France and Saudi Arabia. Dozens of people are needed to act as flies. Due to the lack of students, I would like to borrow ten staff members from your office to come to the English Department to play red-headed flies and blue-headed flies respectively during working hours.The rehearsal time is about two hours each time, I wonder if you can give your staff this little "office holiday"?